As a high school student, Lexi Schauls was set on her decision to pursue a pre-health route in college despite her passion for business. However, after speaking with a family friend who worked in hospital administration, Schauls realized another path that would allow her to combine both of her passions into one industry. Now, Schauls is a junior at UW–Madison pursuing degrees in management and human resources and marketing with a certificate in health policy.
Over the summer, Schauls worked as a strategy analyst intern for WPS Health Solutions, which is based in Madison. “In searching for my summer internship last fall, I had multiple interviews with various health insurance specialists,” Schauls says. “After taking just one course in the certificate track (PA 201), I was able to speak knowledgeably about current healthcare issues as well as effectively communicate why I was fit for the internship role because of the extra background information I knew about the industry. I really do believe that this certificate made me stand out from other candidates because it showed my true passion for the healthcare industry to the interviewers.”
In the spring, Schauls worked on a group project designing a randomized controlled trial on a health-related topic of their choosing in PA 281: Discovering What Works in Health Policy. Schauls’ group chose to study the increase of social media advertising promoting “health” products. They focused their experiment on whether a popular greens powder called “Bloom” truly caused certain health benefits. “This project was so memorable because we, the students, had the autonomy to choose what issues we wanted to research,” Schauls says. “I am grateful that many of the projects I have experienced in the La Follette policy courses so far have allowed me to focus on topics I am passionate about, which makes me really want to dive into the work.”
Schauls recommends that underclassmen look at different certificates that can be obtained through aligning the coursework with general education requirements while they continue to explore different majors in the early years of their undergraduate studies. “As a freshman, I really didn’t know what classes to take, and I based my course choices off of what were the easiest classes that would meet my gen-ed requirements,” Schauls says. “I should have explored the certificates website earlier on and taken classes that I was interested in rather than taking classes to ‘check off a requirement.’ This way you can always be working towards a goal while learning about topics that truly interest you.”
Schauls hopes to work in hospital administration or medical sales in the future. “I think there is a lot of room for positive change in the healthcare sector and that is something I want to work towards throughout my career,” Schauls says.
– Story by Clare Brogan